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Warren man faces several charges
By Ed Runyan
WARREN
Michael Lardis, the 79-year-old Parkman Road Southwest man who suffered a gunshot wound Sunday night — apparently at the hands of Warren police officers — pleaded innocent Thursday.
Seated in a wheelchair in Warren Municipal Court, Lardis faces three counts of misdemeanor aggravated menacing. He posted a $20,000 bond.
Lardis was released from ValleyCare Trumbull Memorial Hospital on Tuesday and was served with summonses to attend Thursday’s hearing. He did not go to jail.
During the hearing, Lardis was assisted by a man described in court as his power-of-attorney. Judge Terry Ivanchak set bond at $20,000. The judge advised Lardis to have an attorney with him for his next hearing, at 10:15 a.m. Aug. 16 before Judge Thomas Gysegem.
Warren Police Chief Tim Bowers said Tuesday he doesn’t know much about Sunday’s shooting because the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Identification and Investigation is handling it.
When asked how many times Lardis was shot, Bowers said he didn’t know that or whether Lardis was hit by a police officer’s bullet or his own.
Jill Del Greco, a public-information officer for the Ohio Attorney General’s office, said the BCII is assisting the Warren Police Department in the case. She referred questions to Bowers.
The Warren Police Department’s initial report says two officers responded to the house next door to Lardis’ home in the 400 block of Parkman Road Southwest because Lardis was pointing a weapon at someone.
A radio log obtained by The Vindicator says officers arrived at Lardis’ house at 10:06 p.m. and determined that Lardis was inside.
Shots were fired at 10:10 p.m., but Lardis was “barricaded” in his house, and Sgt. Emmanuel Nites reported that it was “unknown if [Lardis] was struck.”
At 10:21 p.m., Lardis told someone by telephone that “someone shot him,” Sgt. Michael Merritt said.
The log says Lardis was taken into custody at 10:44 p.m. and transported to ValleyCare Trumbull Memorial Hospital.
After his hearing Tuesday, when Lardis was asked how many times he was shot and where, he declined to comment, saying it was because “I don’t know that much about the law.”
Kelly Brooks, who lives next door to Lardis, said her friend, Mary Wiseman, 33, of Warren called 911 after Lardis pointed a gun at her.
Several minutes after police arrived, Lardis fired about six shots from an upstairs window in the back of his house at two police officers, who avoided being hit by getting behind a garage. The officers fired back about two times, and one of the shots apparently hit Lardis in the leg, because that’s where Lardis appeared to be injured when he was taken out of the house by ambulance personnel, Brooks said.
Diane Goncz, Brooks’ mother, said her family has had “nothing but problems” with Lardis since she and her family moved into their home two years ago.
He has repeatedly placed notes on houses and cars in the neighborhood, threatening to harm people over a variety of issues. The notes have accused people of drug dealing and prostitution, among other things, Goncz said.
A month ago, Lardis fired a shot at Goncz’s 15-year-old grandson after accusing him of putting garbage in his yard, Goncz said. The shot missed.
“He kind of terrorizes the whole neighborhood,” Goncz said, adding, “I feel kind of sorry for him. He seems like a very lonely man.”